‘Stepping it up' in the fight against climate change

Recycle more and recycle better is the message for the 18th annual Recycle Week which began on Monday 20 September, and Derbyshire County Council is helping to spread the word. 

The county council is asking residents to ‘Step It Up’ in the fight against climate change and take action to protect our environment through even better recycling habits.

The latest research from the charity Recycle Now reveals that 9 out of 10 people now recycle. This saves 18 million tonnes of CO2 every year, which is the same as taking 12 million cars off the road. That’s the good news but there is more to be done and with a little knowhow it can be easily achieved.

Currently over half of households put items in their general rubbish bin that could be recycled including foil, aerosols, and plastic toiletry (shampoo and conditioner bottles), plastic trays and cleaning and bleach bottles. Getting this right would make a big difference and this, say Recycle Now and the county council, is where we need to ‘Step It Up’. 

Councillor Carolyn Renwick, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Environment, said: “Recycling can help fight climate change and Derbyshire residents already do a great deal but as Recycling Now’s research shows there’s still more to be done. We need to be recycling the right things in the right way. 

“As technologies change and improve, more items can be recycled. Take aerosols for instance a few years back they couldn’t be recycled but now they can and should be! 

“I discovered that you can then make 20 new aerosols from recycled materials using the same amount of energy as making just one from scratch. And this is just one example. 

“So, I would urge residents to find out more and Step Up their recycling. This National Recycle Week is a good time to start with lots of information and advice available to help.”

Top tips for improving recycling in Derbyshire include:

• Recycle more of items like bathroom plastics, aerosols, and foil
   
• Make sure plastic bags, plastic toys, polystyrene, and nappies never go in the recycling bin.  What can you do with these instead?  Check if your local supermarket has a plastic bag recycling scheme, many of them do.  Can you find new homes for your unwanted plastic toys or give them to a charity shop?  Polystyrene can’t be recycled unfortunately so please do your best to avoid it in the first place.  If you find it included with packaged goods, why not contact the manufacturer to encourage them to use atlernatives?  If you use disposable nappies could you switch to washable ones instead?  Only as a last resort should these items go in your general rubbish bin. 
   
• If you’re at all unsure about how to recycle a specific item, take a look at Recycle Now’s Recycling Locator which can show you exactly what needs to go in the recycling bin where you live – enter your postcode Local recycling | Recycle Now

To find out more about Recycle Week, visit www.recyclenow.org.uk/RecycleWeek